The present invention relates to a fishing reel of the multiplier type, and to a line spool intended for use in such a fishing reel.
Known fishing reels of this type generally have a frame with two inner side plates integrally formed therewith and two detachable, outer side plates. A shaft extends through the frame and is mounted in rotary bearings in the two outer side plates. A line spool is nonrotatably mounted on the shaft for rotation therewith. In an alternative embodiment, the shaft mounted in rotary bearings in the outer side plates has been replaced by a shaft supported therein by means of support bearings, and the line spool nonrotatably mounted on the shaft has been replaced by a line spool rotatably mounted on the shaft by means of rotary bearings (see e.g. U.S. Pat. No. 4,919,362). In these two variants, the shaft of the line spool bears at both ends on a resilient means which is arranged in the respective outer side plates and is part of a brake mechanism for adjustably braking the line spool. The shaft then has a length depending on the distance between the outer side plates and hence on the width of the fishing reel.
Today, frames for such prior-art fishing reels are often made of aluminum. In a known manufacturing process, the frame is die-east in a mold. Since the manufacture of fishing reels of different width necessitates frames of different width, a separate mould is required for each desired frame width. In Applicant's copending U.S. patent application entitled "Method for making a frame for fishing reels of the multiplier type", filed on Mar. 31, 1995, is disclosed an alternative method for making aluminum frames for fishing reels of the multiplier type. In this method, a tubular aluminum section is produced by extrusion, a length corresponding to the width of the frame to be made is cut from the aluminum section, and this section length is processed to form a frame. As will be appreciated, the latter method does not require any new tools for changing the width of the frame to be adapted to the desired fishing-reel width. A new frame width is quite simply achieved by cutting from the extruded aluminum section a length corresponding to that width. Irrespective of which of the aforementioned methods is adopted for making a frame, the manufacture of fishing reels of different width necessitates line spools and shafts of different length. If the fishing-reel manufacturer keeps in stock a large number of fishing reels of different widths of a certain type, an equal number of line spools and shafts of different length must also be kept in stock.